As a co-author of The Issue Is column, “Promoting Health Equity Through Holistic Admissions in Occupational Therapy Education,” appearing in the September/October issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (Anvarizadeh et al., 2023), I write to convey my present-day perspective on the column, given developments that have occurred since it was first written in March 2022.
On one hand, I am honored to have spearheaded and established this critical work at USC Chan’s Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Under my leadership as Admissions Director between March 2019 and June 2022, USC Chan implemented my vision of a new brand of holistic admissions in our occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistant educational system, which was well received nationally and internationally. USC Chan was a living laboratory, proving that holistic admissions was transformative in achieving historic changes to student demographics in order to better reflect the diversity...
